History - The rise of Totalitarianism (glossary)

International crisis (27 Aug. - 27Sept. 1923) that marked the first assertion of power in foreign affairs by the Italian Fascist government. Led by Mussolini, the Italians occupied the Greek Island of Corfu in retaliation for the murder of an Italian general. Eventually, Mussolini withdrew its troops from Corfu because of the pressure made by Britain and France, following the statements of the League of Nations. Nevertheless, Greece had to accept most of the Italian demands, including the payment of large indemnity,

Military alliance between Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, instituted in 1939.

 Agreement signed between England and Germany on June 18, 1935 .  Despite the Treaty of Versailles, the Anglo-German Naval Pact negotiated by Von Ribbentrop allowed Germany to increase the size of its Navy to one-third the size of the Royal Navy. At the same time, Britain agreed to withdraw its navy from the Baltic Sea completely, making Germany the dominant power in the Baltic.

A non-aggression  pact is a treaty between two or more states, agreeing to avoid war or armed conflicts between them even if they find themselves fighting third countries, or even if one is fighting allies of the other.

The most famous is in the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact  between the Soviet union and Germany, promising not to go to war with one another. The pact lasted until German invasion of the Soviet Union (1941) in Operation Barbarossa.

The people in a society who have influence and power, and who usually do not support change.

The German annexation of Austria (expressly forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919), accomplished by the German chancellor Adolf Hitler on March 12, 1938.

Basque Town (symbol of the Basque people liberties, and located in northern Spain) bombed by the German planes in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War, This tragic martyr (  lots of civil victims especially women and children ), has been recalled in a famous painting by Picasso (1937).

Spanish general (1892-1975) and dictator. In 1936, he joined the conspiracy against the Popular Front government becoming generalissimo of the rebel forces.  As a general, he led the insurgents nationalists to victory in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) supported by Fascist Italy and Nazy Germany. In 1939, he establi a dictatorship. This authoritarian regime would endure until his death (1975) as Franco had passed previously( 1947) an act by which he became the head of state for life. In 1969, however, he announced that upon his death the monarchy would return in the person of Juan Carlos, grandson of Spain's last ruling King (i.e Alfonso XIII, King of Spain 1886-1931)